


This Night Is Sparkling

by supremeleaderlindz



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn Rey/Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22429657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supremeleaderlindz/pseuds/supremeleaderlindz
Summary: He held his hand out, and without a second thought she reached out to touch his slender fingers with her own. His hand was too warm as it closed around hers, warmer even as he pulled it towards his face. He pressed his lips to the back of her hand, murmuring into her skin. She swallowed the unwelcome lump in her throat."Enchanted."She felt a blush creep over her cheeks, finally grateful for the thick makeup covering her face.Or, Kylo Ren (stage name) is an Academy Award winning actor set to star as a doctor in an upcoming hospital drama film. Rey is the Emergency Department nurse hired on as a medical consultant. She doesn't know how she's going to handle Hollywood, and he doesn't know how he's going to handle her.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	1. Enchanted

**Author's Note:**

> I made the mistake of being on fandom Twitter whilst listening to "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift on repeat for 1.5 hours. So far, I have a very solid idea of where this is going to go, but we all know things change.

“I guess I just don’t understand why I’m being forced to go to yet another one of these parties,” Rey complained, knowing her grievances fell on deaf ears. She pursed her lips as the makeup artist dabbed yet another layer of something onto her upper lip. She saw Luke’s smirk out of the corner of her eye.

“You have to make connections in this industry.”

“I’m not making connections, you’re parading me around like a doll introducing me to people whose names I’ll never remember, knowing full well that as soon as this stint is over I’ll be on my way back to the middle of nowhere,” she ranted, closing her eyes _but not too tightly_ as the makeup artist drew on the winged eyeliner that was unfortunately becoming her signature look.

“I’m trying to keep you around,” Luke said with a hint of frustration. “You know that once you work on one film, the door is wide open for you to consult on more shows and films. Especially as someone young, and frankly, not terrible to look at.”

Rey scoffed. “Don’t flatter me.” Her agent could be a pain in her ass, but he was a pain that had secured her a very coveted position. He didn’t reply, and she let her mind wander. 

She thought of the day Luke discovered her, if you could call it that, when his good friend Han collapsed at a restaurant that Rey happened to be eating at with one of her more well to do friends. She had split her skirt to get in a proper position, given CPR, and stayed with Han on the ambulance all the way to the hospital and until he woke up in the ICU. Luke couldn’t believe her dedication, and was more impressed to learn that she worked full time as a nurse in the emergency department. 

“I save lives every day,” she had told him with a half shrug, body riddled with exhaustion and the familiar muscle aches setting in after a prolonged CPR session. “This time I just happened to not get paid for it.” 

He had liked her attitude, had liked the knowledge she had shown after he questioned her further, and before she knew it she was in a very shiny modern office in a non-ripped skirt signing a contract to be the medical consultant on a big upcoming film. A film she still knew nothing about, other than that Han’s son was supposedly the lead. 

\---

Rey tugged at her waist, willing the fabric to give her even the slightest bit more room to breathe. She had all but been sewn into this dress, a strapless silk lilac number with a sweetheart neckline and a fluffy tulle skirt that barely touched the tops of her silky black shoes. This was by far the fanciest she had been forced to dress so far in this journey, and she was already looking forward to being through with this party. She tried and failed to inhale deeply, thoroughly irritated at the thought of a night of shallow breathing with all the talking she would have to do. Gone were her comfortable navy scrubs, the sweatpants she lived in at home, and the familiar feel of spandex against her skin when she ventured out to explore the rocky trails that the lifeless land around her hometown had to offer. She refused to look in the mirror, not wanting to see a stranger looking back at her. 

“Don’t you look like the picture of sophisticated grace,” a familiar voice said sweetly, an undertone of sarcasm slipping through, snapping her out of her wistful memories. 

Rey turned and grinned widely as she saw Poe Dameron, former fighter pilot turned actor, leaning against the wall of her dressing room. She had met him at the first party she was forced to attend; they bonded over the discomfort of their clothing then, and now it seemed they had that in common yet again. He was dressed in a very fitted navy suit with black accents. He adjusted his black bow tie under her unwavering stare, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

“Are you going to stare like a deer in the headlights or are you going to come on,” he said in a monotone, inferring a statement of “we need to go,” more so than a question of “are we going.” 

“I’m just astounded that they’ve managed to make your pants any tighter,” Rey admitted, lightly smacking his bottom as she walked by. “You’ll split those if you bend even in the slightest. Can you even sit down?”

“Oh, fuck off.” 

\---

The venue was exquisite; a swirled muted colored carpet, bright walls, clearly expensive art including what she believed were nude portraits, and elaborate chandeliers hanging in varying heights from a vaulted ceiling. No chairs were available, to her chagrin, she would suffer in these heels until she was allowed to leave. A multitude of high-top tables with bright cloths dotted the room, people surrounding them with flutes of whatever they were serving at the bar. Rey could feel her eyes glazing over as she forced laughter and faked smiles, tired of the loneliness she always felt at these parties, like she couldn’t connect with any of the attendees on a deeper level because she simply didn’t belong. Poe had long abandoned her to seek out the comfort of an old friend of his, a sweet boy named Finn that had yet to be introduced to her. Luke was with them, and he occasionally glanced over at Rey to giver her a thumbs up, a silent affirmation that she was doing a good job and should continue. But gods, she was tired of making connections. Ignoring the conversation in the group around her, she scanned the room for an easy exit, thinking maybe she could catch a few moments alone in a hallway or a bathroom or anywhere that wasn’t here. A pair of dark eyes locked hers, and _oh,_ they belonged to someone she hadn’t met quite yet. He was tall, probably too tall, and he was muscular but soft in the right places. He was wearing a form fitting black suit with a black shirt and tie. His dark hair was perfectly waved, and he ran a hand through it as he sustained the eye contact. Rey wondered for a moment how he got away with such a simple outfit, but was unable to think when he raised an eyebrow and began walking her way, half-heartedly excusing himself from the conversation he had been having. She felt frozen in place, her heart pounding in her ears as she heard the unspoken question in his eyes. _“Have we met?”_

“Have we met?” he spoke aloud as soon as he was close enough, his voice as deep and rough as she imagined it’d be. 

“I don’t believe so,” she said weakly, mentally berating herself for so easily coming undone in the presence of who she assumed was a celebrity. “I’m Rey.” 

He held his hand out, and without a second thought she reached out to touch his slender fingers with her own. His hand was too warm as it closed around hers, warmer even as he pulled it towards his face. He pressed his lips to the back of her hand, murmuring into her skin. She swallowed the unwelcome lump in her throat.

"Enchanted." 

She felt a blush creep over her cheeks, finally grateful for the thick makeup covering her face. Before she could say a word in reply, they were interrupted by Luke. The stranger didn’t let go of her hand, he held her fingers loosely in his own at his side and took a step closer. 

“Glad you two found each other,” Luke said with a grin, motioning to someone coming up behind him. “Didn’t I tell you, Han? They’d be fast friends.” He turned back to Rey, nodding his head towards the stranger. "You'll be working with this one a lot, get to know him."

“Friends, sure,” Han Solo said gruffly, stepping into view beside his friend. He gently clapped Rey on the shoulder. “Glad to be alive to see my son make friends, thanks to this one.” 

“This is the nurse?” the stranger asked, bemused, turning to look at Rey again. 

“This is your son?” Rey let go of his hand, taking a step back. She looked at Han and then his son, acknowledging the genetic similarities in the facial structure and the stance. “I see it now,” she admitted. 

“I hear you’re great at mouth to mouth,” Han’s son said casually. 

“Does Han’s son have a name?” she asked, ignoring his remark, cheeks flushing.

“B-“ Han started, rolling his eyes as his son spoke over him. 

“Kylo Ren. Again, mouth to mouth?”

Rey smirked, grateful when Luke gave Han a pointed look and pulled him in a different direction. She wasn’t quite ready to share _Kylo Ren._ The name felt familiar, and she knew immediately she had heard of him before, quite possibly seen him in something, but the one small theater in her hometown was one of the last places she liked to frequent. 

\---

The night began to pass far too quickly for her liking. She countered all his remarks, faces pressing closer as the flutes multiplied at their high-top table, alcohol on their breaths and lips against each other’s ears, passing secrets like passing notes in primary school. Rey couldn’t believe how easily the conversation came and how easily it felt that they were in their own world. They talked about their careers, their childhoods, their mutual dislike of oatmeal raisin cookies, and everything between. The few times she glanced at the clock she realized it was getting late, but she brushed the thought of time constraints from her mind. _This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go._

\---

Their time together eventually dwindled, and he was gone as quickly as he had come, a last brush of his lips on her hand lingered on her skin as she made her way home. Luke had ushered them apart and to their respective homes, chastising them for not mingling beyond each other. Wonderstruck was the word to describe how she felt; the blush felt permanently etched onto her cheeks whether it be from the alcohol or the company. It only occurred to Rey that she hadn’t gotten his phone number, or email, or even his real last name, probably, until she was through the front door of the townhome she was being put up in as part of her contract. _Please don’t be in love with somebody else, she thought, please don’t have someone waiting for you at home. Please let this be the first page and not where this story ends._

The place was nice enough, all modern blacks and grays with a brick accent wall in the living room. She flipped a light on and grabbed at her waist, tearing the silk apart and taking her first deep breath since she had slipped into the dress. She looked at the tattered mess of fabric and tulle at her feet, shrugging as she stepped out of it, the alcohol still burning through her mind. Wearing only the petals taped to her breasts and the thankfully modest pair of underwear she had talked them into allowing her to wear _(“it’s tulle, how are my panty lines going to show?”)_ , she walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She thought more about Kylo’s fingers as she pulled the glass down from the black cabinet, daydreaming about how they’d feel against her jaw and neck and – she shook her head, pressing the glass to the tap to fill it. 

“Now isn’t the time,” she muttered to herself, turning on the Bluetooth speaker she kept on the kitchen counter. The song that came on made her think of him, but she was sure they all would, and she danced around her kitchen, refilling and sipping her water as much as necessary until she felt the buzz subside. 

The pacing began as her wits came back to her, around two in the morning after she had changed into a loose shirt and attempted to sleep. _“Who do you love?”_ she thought to herself, pulling the bobby pins from her hair and easing down the stairs for another glass of water. There was no way he was unattached. Her cheeks reddened again, this time with humiliation. She had _flirted_ with him. _Put her lips to his ears. His jaw._ He could be someone’s _husband. Father._ Her stomach turned at the thought. She wished she had asked such a simple question. She wished he would show up at her door right this second, so she could let him in and tell him that she was also enchanted to meet him. God, it was enchanting to meet him – and – a knock. 

Rey wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or still drunk, but she heard it again, a soft knock on the door. Only residents or visitors with the code could get into this community, and there had never been reported crime; still, she crept carefully to the window, kneeing up onto the reading bench that had been artfully built there, and peeked through the shade, mentally rehearsing every move she watched in a self defense video once. Her heart stopped momentarily then picked up at double speed, her breath hitched, _it was him._

She scrambled to unlock and open the door, only aware of how haphazard she looked once it was open; her hair a mess of dark tangled curls, and well, the whole, not having any pants on thing. He glanced over her once, then stepped inside, closing the door and the cold behind him. He had changed out of his suit but hadn’t abandoned the black, now in a fitted shirt and sweatpants. He was much larger than she remembered, here in her personal bubble, in her house, and she took a step back as she cleared her throat.

“Um,” she began, interrupted as was his fashion.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Kylo admitted, running a hand through his hair and sitting on her window bench. He moved a decorative pillow aside, a small frilly thing Poe had insisted was necessary in one of their first conversations. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I knew you lived here because Luke mentioned it in passing, not because I’m creepy,” he explained with a hollow laugh, shrugging. “Or maybe I am, I just didn’t know where we were going to go from there and I didn’t know when I’d see you again and I jogged by because I live right down the street and I thought, if her light is on I’ll knock and I’ll tell her that I couldn’t lay awake all night wondering if she knew –“

Rey interrupted him this time. “It was enchanting to meet you.”


	2. Wonderstruck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ”How’d you get that scar? I didn’t notice it the other night.” She reached out to touch it, barely grazing her cool fingers against the raised line before he jerked away.  
> ”Knife,” he said tersely, closing the conversation. “We should probably get back. I don’t know what I’m doing.”  
> ”You mean, you don’t know why you trapped me in a closet to interrogate me about why I was invading your dreams? Because that makes two of us,” she hissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't sleep, eat, work, or function until I got this chapter out! Updates most likely won't be coming this quickly in the future, but I'll do my best to have a set-ish schedule soon. I still have no idea how many chapters this will be, so bare with me! I tried to break down the medical terminology, but I do work as an ED nurse (surprise!) and sometimes I forget that not everybody knows the things I do. I only briefly touched on some here, but please leave me feedback if you need more clarity! Enjoy!

It was the brightness that woke Rey up. Too bright, streaming through her curtains directly onto the small loveseat she had called a bed last night. It was the leg cramps that got her moving. She sat up straight, massaging her spasming calf, looking around the living room with a puzzled stare. _The living room?_ She glanced down at her nearly nude body, covered only by one lone pasty – she pulled the other off the armrest of the couch- and her underwear. Pulling the other pasty off her breast as she walked into her kitchen, she realized that her lightweight self drinking copious amounts of alcohol only resulted in what had been the best and worst dream of her life. She threw the pasties in the garbage and patted her hair, confirming that she had never pulled out the elaborately braided bun.

 _”Enchanted,”_ he had said when he kissed her hand, she felt it on her skin still as she turned on her coffee pot. She had never gotten the chance to tell him that it was _her_ that was enchanted, that _she_ would spend forever wondering if he knew. _Not forever,_ she reminded herself as she slowly climbed the stairs, she would see him tomorrow, in fact, at her first day on set. The idea filled her with butterflies – or maybe it was nausea.

—-

One shower, one large shirt, and one coffee in hand later, Rey sat cross legged at the desk in her improvised office space. It was an alcove under her stairs, possibly meant for storage or honestly nothing, but she made it work to her advantage and had made a nice space for her laptop and important documents. She took a large sip of her coffee, spilling a few drops onto her shirt with a muttered expletive, and opened her laptop. Feeling very _Bella from Twilight,_ she opened Google and typed in two words.

_Kylo Ren_

Thousands of results popped up immediately, and she clicked the first link that looked promising. He had no photo on his Wikipedia page, or at least, one wouldn’t load because of her too slow internet, but she remembered enough of what he looked like. She wanted the _important_ information. She quickly scrolled to the personal information section and clicked it, heart racing as it dropped down, praying he wasn’t married, and _relief_. He had been in a few relationships, none lasting too terribly long, the most recent one being two years long that had ended two years ago. No kids, no pets, no drama. He had won multiple Academy Awards, so she briefly read through his filmography after, and was able to place him in a few films she had seen in the past, but couldn’t quite recall the performances. She shut the laptop and sighed. 

\---

The set was immaculate, it looked as realistic as possible to an actual hospital, save for the open walls and camera equipment. It was all whites and beiges, with accented colors for the hospital logos and character’s scrubs. Rey looked around proudly at the nurse’s station with computers, baskets, cabinets, and papers littering the area, running her hand over the cool marble counter and picturing herself sitting in one of the worn fabric rolling chairs charting on a patient. She could see it now, her water bottle and work bag on the desk beside a list of pertinent phone numbers and her phone ringing in time with the call light system. Patient’s “rooms” were “across the hall,” with a bed, attached bathroom, television, and bedside table. It’s what she imagined the show Grey’s Anatomy had looked like on set. It was everything she had hoped it would be.

”Well, what do you think?” Luke’s voice preceded him; she saw him walk onto set from the studio door, coming towards her dressed casually in a polo shirt and dress pants. His hands were in his pockets and a sly grin was on his face. He knew this was exactly what she had spent months on. She had presented photos, made drawings, and even toured the executive producers through her own hospital in an attempt to have as close to a real set as humanly possible.

”It’s incredible,” she breathed out, crossing her arms over her chest, feeling slightly overdressed in her fitted tank top and pencil skirt. “When is, uh, when is everyone going to be here to tour it?” she asked casually, hoping he wouldn’t infer exactly who she was waiting on.

”Should be any minute,” he replied, taking his phone from his back pocket and quickly thumbing through what she assumed were his text messages.

Like clockwork, people began to show. Rey met the production crew, shook hands with the set designers, shared small talk with minor and background characters, and took her time explaining to everyone exactly how their “emergency department” was going to function. The astonished looks were enough to have her (thankfully but also not thankfully much less made up) face stay a bright shade of red as she discussed her role in the hospital and how that would translate to the film. If they noticed her continuous glances towards the door, they didn’t mention it. She eventually relaxed, tying her hair up into a loose bun and resigning herself to the fact that perhaps the principle cast wouldn’t be in today, despite what Luke had told her. In the middle of running the minor characters through a mock code, in which they were attempting to bring a mannequin back from a cardiac arrest, he walked in.

Kylo Ren was dressed in all black; a fitted shirt and track pants, _straight out of her dream_ , his hair loose and wavy. As he came closer, a tired half smile on his face as he regarded the crew, she realized he had to have been wearing makeup the night they met. The bags under his eyes were the second clue, in fact, but they were noticeable against his pale skin. What stood out was the scar on his face, starting above his right eyebrow down his cheek to his neck. It was a faded red line, whatever had caused it clearly happened ages ago, but Rey couldn’t help the urgent desire she had to protect him from something like that ever happening again. Luke clapped him on the shoulder as he approached, earning a half hearted back pat in return. He looked _exhausted._

”Thanks for being so patient with my absence,” Kylo said, his deep voice somehow more alluring than Rey remembered. She liked how he hadn’t apologized for being late, and catalogued his statement to use later instead of blurting _sorry_ every time she slipped up. “This set is incredible,” he continued, his eyes drifting to Rey. “Clearly our medical consultant knows a thing or two.”

\---

Luke showed him around the set, explaining the things that Rey had already gone through with the other cast, despite her insistence that she wouldn’t mind running through it again. That she’s being _paid_ to do this. He dismissed her, and she assumed it was to talk to Kylo alone, as they seemed deep in conversation about much more interesting things than defibrillators and how the siderails worked on the beds. Their conversation was hushed and animated, and she could hardly look away to focus on mingling with the rest of the crew. She finally met Finn in person, he too stumbled in late, but with an air of someone who had been other places and still had other places to be. He would be starring in a minor role in the film, and he showed a keen interest in the medical side of it all, confessing to her that if the sight of blood didn’t turn his stomach he would have turned to medicine rather than acting. They made dinner plans later in the week with Poe, and in the midst of exchanging numbers, Rey felt a warm hand on the small of her back.

“Mind if I interrupt?” Kylo asked in a low voice.

Rey glanced up at him, but he was looking at Finn, an apologetic look on his face. She finished typing her number into Finn’s phone and handed it back to him.

”Not at all, mate. I’ll see you Friday night then Rey, yeah?”

Rey nodded, and Finn was gone, slipping his phone into his back pocket as he walked towards his fell castmates. Kylo’s hand was still on her back, burning through the spandex, setting her skin on fire. He pressed his fingers against her skin to get her attention, and she turned to him.

“Can I help you?” she asked, her voice coming out weaker and less demanding than she had hoped, how close he was right now was _extremely_ distracting.

”You can, in fact,” he stated, moving his hand off her back and gripping her upper arm, pulling her away from the set. She attempted to grumble but couldn’t help following him out. He walked her across the hall towards the next set, stopping to open a door that she wouldn’t have otherwise noticed, and pushed her inside. It was full of what looked like broken equipment, some with work orders, some collecting dust, stacked onto metal shelves that reached the ceiling of the, for lack of a better word, closet. He let go of her arm and she rubbed the spot, now cold from the lack of his touch.

”Right, so this wasn’t a discussion we could have in public, only to be witnessed by the daddy long legs and the dust?”

He reached out and smacked the offending spider with the back of his hand. She shrugged, impressed by his lack of fear with a twinge of upset at the unnecessary loss of life.

”I haven’t slept since I met you,” he admitted in a low voice. “I keep dreaming about you and it wakes me up. I had this stupid dream that I ran to your house and knocked at like, two in the morning and you let me in and –“

”I told you it was enchanting to meet you?”

”You can’t read minds, can you?” he asked, astonished.

”I wish. I had the same dream.”

She crossed her arms, wary of how cold it was in the closet and how thin the material of both her bra and shirt were.

”There’s no way,” he whispered, sounding like he believed there was a way, leaning his arm against one of the shelves. He didn’t elaborate on the thought, and she didn’t want to start feeling _even more_ like _Bella from Twilight_ by asking him if he was a hero or a villain or a vampire, so she changed the subject.

”How’d you get that scar? I didn’t notice it the other night.” She reached out to touch it, barely grazing her cool fingers against the raised line before he jerked away.

”Knife,” he said tersely, closing the conversation. “We should probably get back. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

The feeling of rejection stung. He clearly hadn’t been obsessing over her the way she had been over him, despite his recent confession.

”You mean, you don’t know why you trapped me in a closet to interrogate me about why I was invading your dreams? Because that makes two of us,” she hissed.

His jaw tensed, and he almost opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t. He walked around her and left, leaving her in a dusty, spider infested broken equipment closet, on the set of a film she had been pouring her heart into. She couldn’t help but think that she didn’t belong here, and wondered why she had gotten her hopes up so high that Kylo Ren would be any different from the other legacy actors she had met. She tried and failed to hold her angry tears back, letting them fall as she sat on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't thank every person who has read this enough! Your encouragement pushed me to (hopefully) make an even better second chapter. I made a Twitter account specifically for Reylo and this fic, feel free to follow/engage with me @supremelindz and I can't wait to keep weaving the thread of this story for you!


End file.
